Statman

Actually for Lind injuries are easily predictable because he has CHRONIC back issues. This is a huge red flag and by no surprise he has been on the DL every year with back problems since his silver slugger year. This team has to invest in players that actually contribute to wins. Wins don't come from players like Adam Lind. We have so many other holes. Put that 7.5 into Melky, starting pitching, a catcher, an everyday 2nd baseman I just looked up his 2015 salary and his option is for 7.5 million. There is no way I would sign a injury prone, platoon bat that can only play average first base defensively for that kind of dough.

Lind is an average at best, injury prone player during his career who has above average platoon splits in a single year under a small sample size. Lets keep some perspective here.

If I was GM I wouldn't pick up his option. Very streaky, injured every year, platoon only 1B is not what this teams needs going forward. I would take that 5 mill or whatever he makes next year and add that to acquiring FA starting pitching.

I hope Adam Lind realizes he (injuries and MAJOR inconsistencies) has been a big part of the problem withe the makeup of the roster in his tenure on the Blue Jays. I also find Lind and Dickey two unlikeable characters. I hope they don't pick up Lind's option and trade Dickey next year.

People who follow more than just the Jays knew Reyes was a below average defensive shortstop prior to becoming a Blue Jay. What we didn't know is that he would become the worst defensive shortstop in the game that plays everyday.

Every ball hit in the vicinity of Reyes in the infield is a cluster. Another #$%^&** routine ball botched by this clown in the 18th inning.

I haven't had the time to look up the numbers but Reyes has to be one of the worst starting defensive shortstop in MLB.

No backlash from me. I don't want to give up Stroman nor Sanchez and to acquire any type of "perceived improvement" would likely take one or both of those guys.

Jays would need to include Stroman, Sanchez and likely some other player. Would be a very dumb move and the productivity both of those players are providing right now, Price is essentially a wash for a playoff push in return.

You can say the same about Alex Anthopoulos as well, albeit Beanes farm is deeper and the MLB squad is much better with their starting pitching as you noted after going "all in". These trades the last few months have been very "un-beane like".

For Buehrle it's equivalent to the average Canadian going out and buying a double double and an, egg, sausage breakfast sandwich for a buddy.

___________________________ has "great stuff". Insert Pitcher Name Here It's crazy how much I hear this term in the context of paid baseball "experts" and fans use to describe unproven and often fringe MLB pitchers. To me "great stuff" are guys that have good mechanics, can throw 95+, late breaking movement on the fastball, can paint all 4 quadrants of the plate and can change speeds with a nasty secondary pitch. Most of all, guys that dominate throughout their career. David price has "great stuff", Pedro Martinez has "great stuff". Misused definition of "great stuff" that is used today in baseball. great stuff - an excuse that scouts, casual fans, broadcasters and analysts apply to pitchers with above average movement on their primary and/or secondary pitches that a) can't throw strikes on a consistent enough basis over a long sample size are often injured c) are successful under an incredibly short sample size d) combination of a and b. Sorry for the rant but this has been bugging the hell out me because I hear it all the time misused not only in the Jays circles but around the league as well.

Baseball is always a touch and feel game - Harold Reynolds

This game was actually pretty typical of Dickey in that he was only capable of pitching 5 effective innings and imploded when the team battled back. The innings he imploded in fit with the rest of his sample. I wouldn't call it unlucky, I would call it typical. Words that come to mind when Dickey takes the mound is frustrating and demoralizing.

I hate to be reactionary but Dickey is one of the most frustrating and annoying players to watch in baseball.

The right temperature, correct humidity and his fingernails to be perfectly manicured to grip the knuckleball.

Exactly! Whether you agree with the trade or not is irrelevant. AA traded for what he thought was a front of the line starter, our staff "ace" for the next 2-3 years. Dickey has been everything but. Dickey struggles to log 6 innings on most occasions as he either implodes in the 5th or 6th inning. The most concerning thing about Dickey is that he gets worse as the game goes on (era triples or quadruples 3rd time around in the lineup). Even when we went on the winning streak this year, Dickey didn't play an important role during that success.

He averages 6 innings/start. For a front of the line starter of this staff (deserving or not) is below average. This is after the last few games where Gibby stretched him out as long as physically possible.

I don't think anyone expects that you can get any decent player for him straight up but I do think he has value in a trade package with prospects to get a semi-front line starter in a push for a playoff run.

Seems counter-intuitive since we need pitching but his knuckleball has shown he is incapable of shutting down teams, isn't logging enough innings and his personal catcher hurts our bench. This would be a bold move by our GM but I think it could improve our team in many aspects including improving our pitching, saving a prospect in a deal and improving our bench which has been shorthanded all year. Kratz would also see more time behind the plate. His contract is reasonable and I'm sure teams would have interest and find value in his skill set.

Isn't he married to Hazel Mae?

Drabek has the quality/movement of what Sergio Santos has on his pitches, the control of Brandon Morrow and mindset of Ricky Romero.

That's basically the point I'm getting at. If Morrow is capable of getting his velocity back to 98 on a consistent basis in a bullpen role, it would be an interesting experiment just to see if he can dominate with that fastball again. The diabetes point is a valid one. It has to be a major setback for this guy especially in a starting pitcher role.

Morrow was most successful when he was throwing max effort, 98MPH was he not?

Nah, nothing to do with framing. Strike zone was shifted down for whatever reason from the 1st inning on. On the opposite spectrum of the strike zone he was calling the high strike a ball. Teams pick up on this and you don't attack that area anymore. This consistently incompetent ump played right into Tanakas strength and he just continued to pepper down in that zone. Nothing the Jays can do about it. I give the jays credit though, usually you see guys like Bautista going berzerk but the team as a whole remained cool. I like where the Jays mental approach is right now.